Four years after the historic Supreme Court decision overturning the federal right to abortion, Democrats are no longer prioritizing abortion rights in their messaging as they try to wrest back control of Congress.
Instead, congressional Democrats see hammering the cost of living as a surefire political message that proves they can be trusted to take the reins. It’s a sign that reproductive rights, an issue which Democrats have dominated and heavily campaigned on in 2022 and 2024, is no longer occupying center stage.
“The message is the cost of living and affordability,” said Rep.
DeLauro, who is also the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, highlighted her efforts to battle Republicans putting anti-abortion riders in the House’s Labor-HHS funding bill.
“We will fight back on that, as well as focus on the cost of living,” DeLauro said.
Younger Democrats, like Rep.
“You know, we all know that we don’t talk about it as much,” Ansari said. “I think that also has something to do with the fact that we are in an environment where 10,000 peripheral things are happening every single day, and when Americans can’t pay for their rent or their food.”
Some Democrats insist the quieter approach shouldn’t be mistaken for abandonment of the cause.
“People may not be talking about it as loudly as they did four years ago,” said Sen.
But asked what the Democrats’ 2026 campaign message is, Warren said: “Affordability, affordability, and affordability.”
State-Level Fights
The nation’s top abortion rights organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said they also feel that this year’s election is different than 2022.
“Reproductive healthcare, as well as the ability to get an abortion, when and where you need one hasn’t changed in importance for voters,” said Angela Vasquez-Giroux, vice president of communications for Planned Parenthood Votes. “What has changed is that there are more things to worry about.”
Part of the reason for that energizing force in 2022 was the raft of abortion-focused ballot initiatives in six states. This year, several states will have abortion initiatives, including Virginia, Nevada, and Missouri.
“Voters are sick of Republicans in Congress making their lives worse—that includes unleashing higher prices and a health care crisis that’s crushing working families, and it includes pushing a dangerous anti-choice agenda that voters will reject in November,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre said in a statement.
Congressional Republicans also haven’t taken significant legislative steps at the federal level to curtail abortion access in the last few years after the Dobbs decision, outside of trying to add policy riders to appropriations bills.
In this Congress, Republicans have only put a few narrow abortion-related bills on the House floor—but haven’t taken up a national ban on abortion. The Senate has largely stayed away from legislative action on the issue, just as President Donald Trump has also broadly avoided the topic. GOP lawmakers did block federal funding to Planned Parenthood temporarily in the 2025 domestic tax-and-spending law.
Abortion as an Affordability Issue
Some Democrats are also looking to integrate the two messages into one. Rep.
“People are talking accurately about abortion as an affordability issue,” said DeGette, “because if people are required or forced to have unwanted children, that only adds to their economic problems.”
Still, the Colorado Democrat acknowledged that messaging may not break through to voters who are worried about immediate pocketbook issues like rent and groceries. She said she’s conducted polling in her district that showed while abortion is a huge motivator for her voters, so is affordability and fighting against Trump.
There are reasons to think things could still change on the urgency of abortion policy. Even as Trump himself has avoided the topic, his administration is perusing other changes. The Food and Drug Administration is conducting a safety study of mifepristone, though Bloomberg News reported the review is being slow-walked until after the midterm elections. The Department of Health and Human Services has denied that the safety study is being delayed.
The Supreme Court could consider changes to the ability to access the drug mifepristone by mail—a decision sure to garner national attention.
“If there’s an adverse ruling on that, then suddenly it could be catapulted back in to public awareness,” said DeGette of the abortion pill case. “It’s too early for me to say whether abortion is going to be a top campaign issue in the fall, but I do think it will be sort of a gateway issue in a lot of these close elections.”
Planned Parenthood has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg. Michael Bloomberg is the majority owner of Bloomberg Government’s parent company.